As it Was in the Beginning: Sermon on Genesis 4 for Iowa District East Fall Pastors Conference

Christ for Us

IDE Fall Pastors Conference 2024

Pastor James Preus

Genesis 4:1-26

October 7, 2024

Adam was the first man. Adam was also the first husband. He knew his wife Eve not in the passion of lust, but in the purity of the marital embrace, and God blessed them with children. Adam was the first father. Adam and Eve and their children composed the first family. Adam was also the first preacher. After God declared the curses along with the protoevangelium in the Garden, He then joined to the promise of a Redeemer a Sacrament, that is, a sign of grace by clothing Adam and Eve with the skin of a sacrificed animal. The sacrificing of animals served as a continual sign of the promise that the woman’s bruised seed would atone for the sins of man. Then Adam began to preach. He regularly preached to Eve and to his children of the curses and the promise. And he taught them to sacrifice to the Lord. Adam was the first father and the first preacher. He also was the first civil ruler, who carried out punishments for crimes. So, in this fourth chapter of Genesis, we see the proto-family, the proto-church, and the proto-state functioning for the first time in a world where sin and ills contend. And for us brothers, who desire to be better husbands, better fathers and pastors, better men, it does us good to reflect how God led the first family and parish through this world of sin.

When Eve first gave birth, she named her son Cain, because he was a special possession given to her from the Lord. It appeared that Eve was under the impression that this firstborn was the fulfillment of the promise that her seed would crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:15). Yet, when her second son was born, she named him Abel, which comes from the same word as vanity or breath (Eccl. 1:2). From these names, we see that Cain was highly esteemed by his parents, while Abel was esteemed little. Yet, when Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord, it was Abel’s offering which was accepted by God, while Cain’s was rejected. And so, the Virgin Mother’s words have proven true from the beginning, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.” (Luke 1:52)

Yet, why did God accept Abel’s offering but not Cain’s? Because Abel brought his offering with faith and Cain did not. The text says that the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering He did not. He found favor with Abel before He accepted his offering. And He found no favor with Cain before He rejected his offering. This means that God accepted Abel on account of his faith, because apart from faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). God was pleased with Abel’s offering because of the faith through which he offered it (Hebrews 11:4).

There are two types of offerings: sacrifices of thanksgiving and sacrifices of atonement. A sacrifice of atonement makes satisfaction for guilt and punishment and reconciles sinners to God. A sacrifice of thanksgiving does not make satisfaction for guilt; rather it is offered by the one who believes he has been reconciled to God through faith. Abel offered his offering as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. He believed the promise, which his father preached to him, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of Satan even as His heal was wounded. He offered the firstborn of His flock and their fat portions, because he believed that God would offer for his salvation the best He has. Cain, however, offered his offering as a sacrifice of atonement. He thought God should be satisfied with his offering, because of its merits. But there is only one sacrifice of atonement, Christ, the Seed of the Woman. So, because Cain did not put his faith in Christ, his offering was rejected. This is the same situation in our parishes today. All come to worship, yet some offer false worship in their hearts, while others offer true worship. And the preacher preaches to exhort true worship through faith in Christ.

Luther insisted that when the Lord spoke to Cain, it was Adam speaking in the Spirit to Cain. (I find Luther convincing). So, Adam said to his son, “Sin in crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” And this is what a good father and a good pastor preaches regularly. We carry about us original sin. We think it lies dormant, but it is ready to attack at any time. We must rule over it. The only way to rule over sin is through repentance and faith in Christ. As Adam did, so must every Christian father and pastor do today: rebuke sin and unbelief and call sinners to repentance and faith.

Yet, Cain did not heed his father’s preaching. Rather, he let sin rule over him, and he murdered his brother. Yet, by his death, Abel was the first to prove true Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:11) Abel’s was the first human soul to enter heaven, foreshadowing Christ commending His Spirit to the Father on the cross thousands of years later. And so, though Abel died, he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4). Abel’s soul was among those seen by John in Revelation 6, who cried out to the Lord, how long? Yet, Abel and the rest of the martyred throng are told to wait until the number of martyrs is complete. So, the pattern of Genesis 4 continues even today. The righteous will be killed for the sake of God’s Word, yet their souls will rest in Christ until the resurrection.

God (or Adam, speaking on God’s behalf) asked Cain where Abel was. Cain responded, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Thus, Cain showed total impenitence and abiding hatred for his brother. Cain’s impenitence stands in stark contrast to what Jesus says all Scripture depends on: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. But Cain loves neither his God nor his brother. Surprisingly for many, Cain’s life is spared. However, he is excommunicated from the Christian congregation and banished from Adam’s dominion. So, whereas before false worship was hidden in the unbeliever’s heart, now a false religion is established in competition to the true Church. And as it is today, the religion of Cain grows stronger and establishes itself as the civic religion of the great and mighty. As Cain’s children forged tools, created music, and built cities, so today the wealth and influence in government and culture of those who hate God and His Church grow strong as the Church and her parishes seem insignificant.

Yet, God did not leave the first Christian family and the first Christian parish without comfort. Adam again knew his wife, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, which comes from the verb to put or to set. This shows that the promise first made in the garden still stands. The Seed of the woman will yet crush the serpent’s head. You may not have noticed it before, but Seth is the first one Moses calls a son of Adam and Eve. Neither Cain nor Abel was called a son. This again foreshadows Christ, who is the only begotten Son of God and the firstborn of all creation. Seth was born instead of Abel, because Cain killed him. So, Seth’s birth foreshadows the resurrection of Christ. Abel, the righteous man, was killed for righteousness’ sake, as Christ was. Abel’s soul ascended into heaven as Christ commended His soul to God. And now, Abel has a replacement on earth in Seth. And so, Christ rose from the dead and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of Holiness (Romans 1:4). The Father declares to Christ in Psalm 2, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.” Obviously, Christ is begotten from eternity. Yet, St. Paul says this passage is fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 13:33). It is as he wrote in Romans 1, Christ was declared the Son of God by His resurrection. And so, when Adam and Eve received a life in exchange for their dead, Moses prophesied of Christ by calling Seth the first son.

Yet, Seth’s birth does not only prophesy of Christ’s resurrection. He proves that God has not forgotten His promise to send the Redeemer, because that Redeemer will come through Seth’s lineage. The promise is established forever. And so also, Seth’s birth proves that Christ’s Church is established forever. As the lineage of the woman’s Seed cannot be snuffed out by Satan or murderers, so neither can Christ’s Church be snuffed out, but a remnant will remain forever.

When God gave Seth a son, he named him Enosh, which means man. This is the word for man used in Psalm 8, “What is man that you are mindful of him?” At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord, that is, as people were oppressed by the Cainite tyrants, they turned to the promise of the Christ preached by Adam and Seth. Seth represents the enduring Church, the remnant that will endure until the end. Through Seth came Noah and his family, the lone survivors of God’s flood of judgment on the wicked unbelieving world. Cain’s religion, his cities and governments, music, power, and wealth were all drowned and destroyed in God’s judgment. Yet, Seth’s lineage continued. So also, this unbelieving world, with its wealth and power and prestige, with which it seeks to influence your family and parish, these will all perish in God’s judgment. But Christ’s Church will remain. And the faithful will endure in the ark of the Church.

Dear brothers, as it was in the beginning, the false religion of pride and hate will war against the Christian family and parish and usurp the power of the state. So, be a husband, a preacher, a man like Adam. Preach the word. Scripture depends on the command to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind and your neighbor as yourself. These truths endure that whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And the promise of Christ’s atonement and salvation still stands today as it did in the garden. When you bury your Christian dead, no soul is lost to Christ’s Church. And when God adds a child to your family or parish, He reminds you that the promise of the woman’s Seed is for yet another generation. The Son reigns. And all who belong to Him shall never perish, even if they die. As it was in the beginning, so let us preach this to the end. And God will prove faithful. Amen.